Damascus, (SANA) – Hundreds of Syrian citizens organized a sit-in outside the International Red Cross Bureau in Damascus marking the Syrian Captive Day, expressing their support to captives in Israel's prisons and their condemnation of its policies and refusal to abide by the international legitimacy resolutions and continued occupation of the Syrian Golan and the rest of the occupied Arab lands.

Participants in the sit-in denounced the oppressive practices of the Israeli occupation forces against citizens of the Golan and their attempts to erase the Syrian identity.

The participants delivered a statement signed by the Committee for Supporting Liberated and Incarcerated Syrian Captives and Detainees in Israeli Prisons to the Chairman of the Red Cross International Committee in Syria, demanding intervention and assistance in relieving the suffering of captives and stopping the oppressive practices in Israeli prisons.

The statement affirmed that Israeli practices against captives and detainees violate the international laws, the Geneva Convention, and the International Red Cross resolution that considers Arab freedom fighters in Israeli prisons as prisoners of war and thus protected by the Geneva Convention.

In their statement, the participants urged the international community to help liberate captives from the occupied Syrian Golan and return the occupied lands to their rightful owners.

In turn, the Committee for Defending Palestinian Captives and Detainees in Israeli Prisons demanded in a similar statement that relevant international and regional humanitarian organizations hold a support campaign for Samir al-Qintar and his fellow detainees, and work to release them in every possible way.

H. Sabbagh / Ahmad Fathi ZAHRA